Maech 27, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



483 



stantial foundation in objective and experimen- 

 tal truth, through the lack of which, up to the 

 present time, it has failed to render any per- 

 manent and serious contributions to human 

 knowledge. 



The author draws a sharp line between eth- 

 nology and physical anthropology. The for- 

 mer concerns itself with man exclusively as a 

 social being, in his relations to other men, in 

 his life in societies, peoples or nations ; the 

 latter finds its proper field in studying the in- 

 dividual, and solely from his anatomical and 

 physical side, strictly excluding psychic phe- 

 nomena. This distinction, to which the author 

 rigidly adheres, is, we believe, erroneous, in- 

 consistent with natural relations, and a serious 

 blemish in this otherwise excellent construction 

 of ethnologic science. Modern psychology can- 

 not be divorced from physiology and anatomy, 

 neither in the individual nor in the folk ; and 

 that Dr. Achelis so constantly underrates their 

 essential connections can be explained only by 

 the fact that his professional studies have been 

 legal and not medical. 



In his psycho-physics, he depends chiefly 

 upon Wundt, unquestionably an authority of 

 the first rank, but whose analysis of self-con- 

 sciousness, and whose rejection of the capacity 

 of self-observation, have been amended by later 

 specialists in this branch. Another point of in- 

 completeness in his developmental theory is the 

 deficient appreciation he manifests of the rela- 

 tion of degeneration to progression. Indeed, 

 he would exclude retrogressive metamorphosis 

 from the primary factors of social evolution ; 

 whereas, it is an indispensable condition of such 

 evolution in most, if not all, instances, just as 

 it is in organic forms. 



Having thus set forth the author's theoretical 

 positions, the method of their presentment may 

 be considered. 



The science, he argues, began with ethno- 

 graphic pictures, such as those offered by La- 

 fitau and Cook, which were worked up politic- 

 ally by Montesquieu, Rousseau and others, 

 philosophically by Herder and Schiller, geo- 

 graphically by Hitter and Reclus, etc. These 

 gave the foundation for ethnology as the sci- 

 ence of sociology, in which the names of Spen- 

 cer, Quatrefages, Bastian, F. Miiller, Waitz, 



Tyler, Post and others are familiar to most 

 readers. Three hundred pages of the volume 

 are devoted to careful epitomes of the labors of 

 these scholars, and then the author feels him- 

 self ready to present his own definition of eth- 

 nology and description of its aims. These have 

 already been briefly mentioned, and it is enough 

 to add that he supports them by an analysis of 

 the material and intellectual culture of human- 

 ity, such as arts, languages, religions, laws, 

 commerce, etc. 



The third division of the treatise exhibits the 

 bearings of ethnology on other sciences, espe- 

 cially geography, archaeology, history, religion, 

 philosophy and sociology. It is brief, not forty 

 pages in all, and unsatisfactory. It shows signs 

 of haste and inadequate treatment, as anyone 

 can see by reading the three pages on anthropo- 

 geography. 



In spite of the defects which we have freely 

 pointed out, the work as a whole is admirable, 

 breathing the spirit of advanced thought, rep- 

 resentative of the leading school in the study 

 of man, and rich in suggestions for further in- 

 vestigation. The style is clear, the language 

 forcible, and the presentation popular. It de- 

 serves a marked success. 



The Child and Childhood in Folk-TJiought. (The 

 Child in Primitive Culture.) By Alexander 

 F. Chamberlain, M. A., Ph. D., etc. Pp. 

 464. New York, Macmillan & Co. Price, 

 $3.00. 



This work supplies a want in the literature 

 of folk-lore, and supplies it well. It must have 

 been a pleasant occupation to the author to 

 collect the mass of material he presents us, 

 from the family and folk-talk of all times and 

 all peoples, to illustrate how they regarded the 

 little creature, the child, for whom alone, in- 

 deed, the family has any reason of existence. 



It is astonishing to note what an important 

 part he has played in the life and opinions of 

 his elders, and what diverse powers he has ex- 

 hibited or been credited with. Two hundred 

 pages of the book are fllled with descriptions of 

 the child as a builder of society, as a linguist, 

 actor, poet, teacher, judge, oracle-interpreter, 

 weather-maker, healer, priest, hero, fetich, 

 divinity, God. Six chapters are filled with the 



